Cetera Strengthens Executive Team with New Chief Operating Officer, Tom Gooley; Promotes Lisa Gok to General Counsel

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Nov 10, 2020, 11:02 ET

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera announced today that Tom Gooley, an industry veteran in leading large-scale digital transformation efforts, has joined Cetera as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Gooley will unify technology, trading, services and operations across the organization to continue to deliver a digital experience that drives growth for financial professionals through scale and operating leverage, while maintaining frictionless and efficient servicing. Lisa Gok has been promoted to the role of General Counsel for the firm, succeeding David Greene, who left the organization earlier this year for personal reasons.

Adam Antoniades, Chief Executive Officer of Cetera, said, "Attracting and retaining top talent is imperative to our mission to create outsized growth for our financial professionals and extend the delivery of an Advice-Centric Experience to more clients. We have two of the best in their fields with Tom and Lisa. Our ability to attract the caliber of Tom, with his track record of success, is testament to the opportunity we are creating and reflective of the convergence of service and technology in wealth management. He will accelerate the transition of how we process, enable and service our clients, so as to deliver our platform in a way that is most relevant to our financial professionals. Lisa's demonstrated legal acumen and savviness in anticipating and responding to regulatory change will continue to foster a culture of continuous improvement for Cetera and our community."

Gooley's proven transformational leadership will enable him to build on the service excellence established by Cetera, and accelerate the seamless, end-to-end delivery of Cetera's award-winning, digitizing technologies like AdviceWorks. Through the 2020 pandemic, Cetera's network of financial professionals have reported superior service levels by the organization, with Net Promoter scores consistently in the 50-60 range.

Gooley's most recent role was the Managing Director of Service, Trading, and Operations at LPL Financial. Prior to that, he was Senior Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer for the Retirement and Individual Financial Services division at TIAA-CREF. Previously, he worked as Managing Director and Head of Operations for the Global Wealth and Asset Management divisions of Morgan Stanley, where he also co-led the project to convert assets from Smith Barney to the Morgan Stanley platform as part of their merger. Earlier in his career, he led Equities and Futures Operations for Bank of America Securities after spending 12 years with Goldman Sachs in a variety of leadership roles in Equities Operations.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economies of Industrial Societies from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate and Trustee of the Securities Industry Institute (SIFMA) Wharton Program, a member of the AIESEC United States Board of Directors and Chair of the Finance Sub Committee and is also an Advisor to the University of California, Berkeley Political Economies department. He holds his FINRA Series 7 and 27 licenses.

Gok joined Cetera Financial Group as deputy general counsel in 2012 to manage and oversee litigation, as well as act as a liaison with regulators. Prior to joining Cetera, Gok spent 15 years with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, both at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and in the Los Angeles Regional Office. She was also an assistant United States attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia, where she tried more than 20 jury trials and conducted more than 1,000 hearings. Gok also served as chief compliance officer at Transamerica Financial Advisors. Just prior to joining Cetera, she was part of the legal team that handled the IPO for Green Dot Corporation, a financial technology firm and bank holding company. She is a graduate of Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs and earned her J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law. She is dedicated to public service and actively volunteers with Kidsave, an organization dedicated to mentoring and finding permanent homes for Los Angeles County foster children.

About Cetera Financial Group^®

Cetera Financial Group (Cetera) is a leading financial advice firm. It empowers the delivery of an Advice-Centric Experience® to individuals, families and businesses across the country through independent financial advisors as well as trusted tax professionals and banks and credit unions. It's headquartered at 200 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 1200 El Segundo, CA 90245-5670.

Comprehensive services include: wealth management solutions, retirement plan solutions, advisory services, practice management support, innovative technology, marketing guidance, regulatory support, and market research.

"Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), Cetera Financial Specialists LLC, and First Allied Securities, Inc. All firms are members FINRA / SIPC.

Individuals affiliated with Cetera firms are either Registered Representatives who offer only brokerage services and receive transaction-based compensation (commissions), Investment Adviser Representatives who offer only investment advisory services and receive fees based on assets, or both Registered Representatives and Investment Adviser Representatives, who can offer both types of services.

SOURCE Cetera Financial Group